Ban Lung, Ratakaniri Province, Cambodia

7th – 9th October 2011 Despite a building site outside our window we had a nice relaxed morning, to be honest we were both so tired that all the clamour outside didn’t really disturb us all that much. Djalma sounded like he was coming down with a cold so we decided to stay in bed and head out for breakfast later, in the mean time we snuggled up and watched ‘Horrible Bosses’ an excellent comedy about three guys who plan to murder their… horrible bosses, but get it all wrong. It was very á la The Hangover and had me in stitches for nearly the whole film.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Feeling marginally better we decided to brave the great outdoors and walk to the beautiful Yeak Lom a few kilometers away. Just a few hundred metres from our hotel room I thought that cycling would be a much better idea, at least we could sit down and enjoy the ride in-between pedaling. So after stopping off at the tourist information office we rented out a couple of sturdy bikes with decent breaks and promptly set off in the wrong direction. Djalma realized our mistake half way up a hill when we passed a sign for waterfalls that shouldn’t have been on that side of town. We turned our bikes around and enjoyed the brief thrill of going downhill before the grind up the next hill started.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

It seems to me that Djalma always has the better bike, mine refused to respond as easily as his while I was straining at the pedals going up hills, Djalma whizzing away into the distance leaving me to swear and sweat my way to the top all on my lonesome. We turned right down a shaded road offering blessed relief from the rather hot sun, my wet red face catching up with Djalma’s own normal to mildly moist one and then our legs were assaulted by a combination of steep up and downs peppered with pockmarks on the road and oncoming/overtaking traffic. Getting to the lake was not fun. But, the lake was beautiful.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

When we arrived coming down the steps the lake reflected deep blues and greens from the light of the sun, however as soon as I whipped my camera out the grey clouds that had been following us whipped in and dulled the colour of the water. This didn’t stop small children and teenagers alike wearing their life jackets and running and jumping into the water screaming with pleasure. While we recovered our breath we sat under the protection of a bamboo umbrella at the invitation of a young family and ate the mangoes we had bought at the top of the steps to the lake.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Boeng Yeak Lom (Lake Yeak Lom) sits amidst a small forest of green in a protected area, it was incredibly peaceful and quiet, save for the small groups of friends and families who gathered by the pier, picnicking and watching the kids splash about. The lake (I’m referring to guidebook here for, what I hope you will find, interesting information) is believed to be around 700,000 years old and formed by a meteor crashing to Earth because the shape is so perfect. Indigenous people also talk of mysterious creatures that live in the lake but when we were there movements in the middle of the water prompted speculation that there was a snake. This was just as I was working up some courage to take a dip myself.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

We left the noise behind and followed the path leading round the lake, it was surrounded on either side by lots of beautiful jewel green bamboo. There was another, much quieter pier which had attracted groups of young people (I’m talking like I’m ninety, sorry!) drinking beer and chatting; the boys jumping in, while the girls sat on the steps leading into the water, both groups fully clothed. We sat for a while enjoying the peace and quiet – they weren’t rowdy despite the beer – and spoke to a couple of them, impressed by their impressive grasp of English.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Djalma, already wet from jumping in and swimming at the previous pier, set up the GoPro and dived in for another dip. I eventually decided that a little swim was a good idea but couldn’t quite work up the nerve to jump or dive – I really need to stop being such a big girl. I did eventually take a dip and my wet clothes seemed like a blessing from the gods as we cycled back.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Leaving the lake behind we got on our bikes as the first raindrops began to fall, it was much harder going back up and I had to get off at the last hill and push my bike up, Djalma with his better bike was, of course, fine. It rained most of the way back, but it didn’t matter because we were already wet, we did acquire some rather fetching dirt strips up the middle of our backs from the muddy red road.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Back in town we had a shower and changed into some warm dry clothes and then headed out dinner. We ate at the same place we had breakfast, I had some great fried yellow noodles with beef and Djalma had some rice, it was delicious especially with a healthy dose of hunger. The next day we were up early (I now usually wake up around 6am regardless of whether or not I need to) and after an impressive Khmer Sandwich for breakfast and a few cups of Earl Grey Tea, we rented out a small scooter from a hotel a few doors down (no-one at ours spoke any English) and left to see some of the waterfalls dotting the surrounding area.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Perhaps it was my anxiety after our little mishap on day three of the Loop in Laos but I was sure that the back wheel was slightly wonky and wasn’t holding properly when we went up and down the slopes of the road. I was terrified of coming off again and after a particularly nail biting section of road that the bike slid around on, I got off the bike at any muddy parts that looked like they might offer up the same challenge, fortunately I have a very understanding husband who didn’t mind me being such a big girl. We visited three waterfalls; Kinchaan, where we walked along a very flexible and slightly unstable wooden hanging bridge to view the waterfall.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

At Ka Tieng waterfall we walked down some rather slippery steps and clambered through an open faced cave behind the waterfall. It was incredible and very wet, the roar of the water crashing down on the rocks in front of us obliterated the words as soon as they were out of our mouths. It was an amazing feeling to be so close to the rushing the water, I wish I could have taken a picture with my camera but the sturdy little GoPro had to suffice.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

And Chaa Ong, which was by far the most spectacular. This waterfall flowed through a gorge in the jungle and crashed down on some big black rocks below. The area was filled with bamboo, huge trees and plenty of invitingly Tarzan-esque vines.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

I mentioned idly that it would be really cool if Djalma climbed down to a spot where the water divided in to as it fell, so I could take a picture from our viewpoint and he could pictures with his camera. After the words were out of my mouth I had a hard a hard time convincing him not to go, and he climbed down and out onto the rocks while I watched, my heart in my mouth. True to my word, despite my anxiety, I took several pictures trying as best I could, to get a decent photo. I didn’t manage all that well but the water looks pretty and Djalma loved it. He got soaked to the bone under the huge power shower and came back up with a huge grin plastered on his face.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Waterfalls visited we decided to try and head out to a Chunchiet cemetery where the local villagers bury their dead in the forest and carve effigies to commemorate them. Unfortunately for us, the road there was all dirt and after a few kilometers and the prospect of more rain in the not too distant future we decided to head back.

From Ban Lung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia

After another meal of noodles we went back to our room to shower and relax. Coming out of the shower we found the rain pouring into our room through the open window (it was missing one of the panes of glass and we couldn’t do anything to stop the rain pouring in). Naturally I panicked and tried to find the glass window that wasn’t there, Djalma wasn’t impressed and set about mopping the pool of water up using the bathroom matt. The rain soon stopped and we dried off our things on the bed and then left them while we ventured into the market place again. We wandered up the road and got a battery and a sim card for our phone. Not really ready to go back to our room we mooched round the large muddy intersection, passing lots of stands selling snacks, stopping at a one selling tiny little birds turning on a spit almost as wide as the birds themselves I decided that Djalma should try one. The guy picked up a large knife and hacked one bird from a spit and popped it into a small plastic bag with a wedge of lemon. I wrenched off a pitiful leg and nibbled away while Djalma got his chops round the rest. With a new found craving for meat we stopped at another street vendor selling marinated chicken parts, we got a skewer with a couple of cuts and tucked in, it was delicious. I wanted to keep the tiny little legs of the bird we first ate so I could photograph being used as a back scratcher/nose picker/novelty leg but big D had already chucked it. We booked our bus tickets to Siem Reap for the following morning and then headed back to get some sleep. Despite now having a working phone to wake us up, I kept on waking up convinced it was time to get up. At 4.30am I finally got out of bed and did yoga for an hour before having a shower and finishing packing. We were downstairs for 6am for our moto pick up to the bus station, the guy took us one at a time to the bus station a couple of kilometers outside of town. While he was waiting for me, Djalma bought a couple of breakfast baguettes and we munched away as the bus departed for the 12 hour trip from North East Cambodia down to Skun a couple of hours North of Phnom Penh and from there up to the North West and Siem Reap and the pride of Cambodia; Angkor Wat. The first four hours out of town were slow going as we rumbled slowly over the potholed dirt road, it didn’t matter to much s we were in the front of the bus were it wasn’t nearly as bad as the back. The trip was fairly uneventful, we had a couple of toilet stops in the bushes (with zero privacy and trying to fit in with the group of ladies squatting while they peed with quiet dignity, I in my struggle for conformity with these women, tried to ignore my own stream of pee as it snaked round my toes. Disgusting) and a break for lunch, we arrived in Skun a good ten hours after leaving Ban Lung. We were also in the company of a solo female kiwi traveler, who we had initially met at the border crossing from Laos to Cambodia. I didn’t mention her before because I found her incredibly irritating (she butted in while the officials were examining my passport and annoyed me by telling me what to do) but after yoga I resolved to try and be nicer. So we chatted at the bus stop in the middle of no-where while we waited to be collected by the bus heading north. As it turns out she was nice just lonely and probably in need of a big hug (not that as a self proclaimed “tough bitch” her words not mine, she would ever admit it). After a short half hour wait and plenty of pacing back and forth to get the blood flowing through my legs again we got on another bus and from there it was a swift five hours to get to Siem Reap. We shared a very cute remorque-moto; a small carriage attached to a motorbike that looked like it should be transporting Cinderellas to balls around town, rather than dusty weary backpackers to cheap hotels. Our friendly driver took us for a dollar each to Green Town where we got good discounts on some very nice rooms with free wifi. We checked in and promptly went to sleep in our nice big room with windows where they should be and plenty of room for yoga (not that I ended up doing any).